Hi Ham, I have trouble imagining a solid block of concrete without boundaries because it is boundaries that make it possible to conceptualize blocks and solids. I think in essence (no pun intended}, your theory says from one comes many, or from a whole comes parts. No argument there.
Regards, Platt On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 6:08 PM, Ham Priday <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > To those whose metaphysical quest has been preempted by the pursuit of "the > intellect" -- > Now that we have the intellect squared away, or at least in the throes of > being defined, I would like to take up the most fundamental of all questions > -- What is Reality and how does it create? > > Inasmuch as the world, the individual, experience, and intellectual thought > all participate in Reality, it seems to me that this is logically the first > question a philosopher should be obliged to answer. There's a method to my > madness, of course, and your answers can help resolve a logical problem in > my metaphysics that I've been struggling with for years. It concerns the > 'ex nihilo' principle, which has been disputed by some here (for the wrong > reasons, I believe), but I may have an explanation that will satisfy them. > > As a universal principle, I think most of us would agree that we can't get > something from nothing. Getting something from nothing refutes the laws of > logic, thermodynamics, relativity, and cause-and-effect. Even an > evolutionist understanding of creation places the beginning as the "first > cause", whether it's a big bang or an unbalanced mass of energy. Few, if > any, physicists accept the idea that an absolute void can give rise to > anything, let alone an infinite universe. Yet, the universe was created > and does exist, and I've been criticized for stating that nothingness is the > ground of its existence. Okay, so far? > > Well, I'm about to propose that there is a singular variance to this rule > and I'll explain it using analogies, so please withhold your logical > arguments until you have a grasp of the concept. My idea has to do with the > reduction of an absolute. > > Pretend for a moment that absolute reality is a solid block of concrete, a > block so large that it has no boundaries. Now, suppose a fracture occurs in > this concrete monolith, effectively dividing it in two. Since the block > occupies all of space, the "crack" would necessarily be infinitesimal, like > the imaginary line that serves to describe geometric figures. Nonetheless, > for all practical purposes, the block has undergone a difference: it is no > longer a unity but has spawned an "other" by virtue of that infinitesimal > fissure. > > In my website thesis I use the analogy of the mountain climber who has > ascended to the highest summit and for whom further progress can only be > descent. Both analogies demonstrate that an absolute source is the singular > entity for which creation, difference, or the appearance of otherness is > exclusionary rather than additive. Note that they do not refute the 'ex > nihilo' principle. They do not assume nothing as the primary source. What > they suggest is that for an absolute source the creation of difference is > "reductive" in nature. Only an absolute entity creates by "exclusion", > which is to say that existence is not something "added" to nothingness but, > rather, the potential of nothingness to create the appearance of divided > otherness. > > Whether you call the primary source God, Supreme Being, Dynamic Quality, > the Intellectual Level, Sensibility, Consciousness, Atman, or Life-force, if > you believe that this source is absolute, I submit that the ontogeny of > creation must follow the principle of negation (i.e., exclusion or > reduction) as outlined above. > > I doubt that you'll find any clarifying statements from Pirsig on this > topic, but would like to see how you respond and to what extent you agree > with this proposition. > > Thanks, folks. > Ham > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
